What gives your life meaning?
 

Just as the title says: what do you live for? What makes you wake up in the morning? What do you look forward to?
Is it your job? Is it your significant other? Is it the prospect of partying? Sex? Getting high? Gaming?

I'm just looking for input. This question has been bugging me for a while now and I'm curious to hear what some of the older members have to say. Not that I'm discriminating - I'm only 19 myself. Insights from all sources are most appreciated.

Music, however many aspects of my life are still unfulfilling.

Honestly, it's really a combination of many things that brings meaning into my days, and not a single, specific thing.

Of these, though, the most important one is getting into grad school. Most of my activities nowadays are directed at admission into graduate school -- applications, reading papers, talking to professors, etc. Even the job I'm interviewing for on Monday, that's so that I can have more money for graduate school later on this year. I'm working towards a goal (a Ph. D), and I think, for many people, that gives life its meaning.

And yeah, at the risk of sounding sappy, my girlfriend is another reason I keep going. I'm just going to say that she makes my life happier, and leave it at that.

Right now, the experience itself. I know I have other duties, and I do my best to fulfill them, but I don't do that at the expense of personal happiness.

If I'm not happy, I can't fulfill those personal duties, so there is no point in going with the workaholic/goal-driven lifestyle.

Basically I live for something new. Anything new. Whether it's a new place I haven't seen before in the forest behind my house, a new, interesting TV/Anime show, a new movie, or just a chance to get involved in a new activity. I get depressed when I don't have anything new to enjoy for extended periods of time.

Well, gaming is definitely one incentive for me to roll out of bed in the morning. Some days I'll wake up looking forward to getting home from class to play more of whatever RPG I'm into at the time. Obviously I wouldn't say that's my reason for living though. That'd be pretty sad if my entire existance was based around that.

The thing that keeps me going is seeing the unexpected twists that life takes. Single events can turn horrible days great, or great days hellish. Good or bad though, watching how things turn out is always interesting. It's a really cheesy answer, but also the most accurate I can think of.

School and career plans are also important of course, but I don't really live for them. I prefer to take it one step at a time and try not to stress out about things like grad school in the future.

Personally I find that becoming happy for simply being alive gives my life meaning. Usually this has to do with where I am; comfortable, peacful, and relaxing places can do this for me, finding beauty in just being here and now.

This accompanied with having nothing on the back of my mind as a result of completing all my tasks and having all my arrangements (work/school) in order and being without any worries.

Simply being alive and content. This is pretty hard to accomplish, but I've felt it at times, oddly enough sitting in the tub with the shower on taking deep breaths after accomplishing something great and meaningful (for me at least).

Hm, never thought this would be so hard to describe, I guess I'm complex in my simplicities (wow I'm so deep :puke:). The hope of achieving a state of absolutely NOTHING gives my life meaning, pretty weird!

Interesting...I've thought about this in regards to other people as well. I mean, I have my music and art to give me a reason to live -- but I can't really imagine what life would be like if I didn't have those abilities. I mean, art in many forms is what has formed most of my life (since 3 years old, that's long enough). It's what I do, what I've always done and what I [God willing] will do for the rest of my life.

Playing with people, creating things for others, using my art and music to help other people who don't have those abilities is what I love most in life. It also helps me to find new experiences and interesting people.

Maybe it's a crutch. I dunno... I like it, though.

There's a few things in my life that give it meaning.

First is the oncoming Singularity. My "religion" is singularitarian, meaning I believe that we will surpass the limits of human biology within our lifetime, and I am very excited about it. It's kind of abstract so it's not something I wake up for every day, but it does keep me going if I ever get down. To make it more physical, I read KurzweilAi.net for developments.

My job is awesome, I love it. I'm a freelance game music composer. It is an unbelievable dream job and I'm still amazed that I got the chance to do it. I am extremely thankful for that. Music in general also gives my life meaning.

Finally, I've got one or two friends that make me really happy. I've never been someone who kept friends for a long time, so the few people that I've managed to hold on to are very close to me.

I can't be 100% sure, because it's a mix of a lot of different things for me. This sounds very trite, but my children are the main thing for me. I really feel like I was born to be a mother, and they truly are the reason I live.

But then I've thought about what I would live for if I didn't have children, and this is where it gets complicated. It's so hard to imagine not having them, and I was SO YOUNG when I had my daughter that I almost can't remember who I was before I was a mother. I think that I love life and all its ups and downs. I know that I love the unexpected. Waking up every day and not knowing what is going to happen - good or bad - is a huge rush for me. Also, I love food and sex and sleep...a lot, and I can't imagine that Heaven would have anything to offer me that is more tempting than those three things.

The thought that tommorow will be 100x better than today keeps me going.

Connections! The more you give, the more you get back. Even if you're having a bad day, you can usually lift yourself out of it with the right body language and thought processes. My friends, family and the people I meet all make me happy. It's a big cycle of funtime bonanza to the max, etc.

Family
 

My family keeps me living. Even if they do bug the sh1t out of me, and It isn't really fun when I am with them

Everything that I enjoy doing is what gives my life meaning. Innovating ideas and striving to do things that are unconventional is another element that gives my life meaning.

Just seeing what's going to be next keeps me going. What does to world want to throw at me today, and how will I get around it? Knowing that I will succeed in what I want to do, and that some day, I may actually be able to sigh and say "I have everything I want right now", even if that feeling lasts for only a second.

And I'll be cheesy and add my boyfriend into the mix. He's part of 'everything'.

I live for the people around me. I also live for dirt track racing, and to see what my future will be like. I just love living, and love the happiness and great things that can happen in this life.

Self-improvement. If not for me than for my partner; he's the main motivational force in my life. If I think I am improving myself I am giving myself meaning, whether it be studying something or going out cycling. The feeling of achievement is what I live for.

What keeps me going is that everyday is one more day in which I can sensually experience the world. Whether it's a cuisine I've never tasted before (Indian food and Japanese food are pretty high on my list right now) for a mouth watering tongue-gasm, an eargasm of classical music, eyegasm (especially when I look at sunlight in the water ...keeps me busy for hours) or the myriad of other -gasms there are out there. Basically if I didn't have that, I would have killed myself a long time ago considering that nothing else is going right --with friends and work.

What keeps me going? A purpose. In this case, philanthropy, of all things.

If there's one defining trait of human beings, it's defiance. Humans simply will not allow themselves to be hampered by their limitations. We cheated our way to the top of the food chain, we've beaten back nature (damn near throttled her to death, even), overcome our inability to fly, and are even throwing the finger to death itself as medical science advances.

As the old adage goes, life isn't fair. I'm going to do something about that. I'm not smart enough to come up with any plans for world peace, or negotiate kindness into people's hearts, but what I can do is redistribute resources. It's not enough to just throw money at charities, you have to be intelligent about how you invest your funds so that it does the most good. I think I can do a better job than Bono.

But first, I have to establish a stable financial base for myself, and then figure out where that money's going to come from, in a way that doesn't fuck over the little guy and defeat my own purpose. So, one thing at a time. I'm not going to fool myself into thinking I'm going to radically change the world all by myself, but individual human achievement is measured in baby steps. It's when all those tiny individual efforts start to add up that you see progress, and I intend to do my small part.

I suppose, living up to my so called potential is my thing. I'm a religious bible type person but some times like lately the text falls short of giving me some higher calling byond meeting or exceeding my personal responsibilities within my sphere of influence. I can be called an angry type when others are depressed and i'm mad now and have been mad at the challenges of my life.
I hate feeling like a loser and mabe thats what keep me going.

What keeps me going is the ridiculous notion that one day things'll get better. But I try, and that's why I'm still here. My children give me meaning, and I live for the day I can see them again. Just to meet my daughter would be nice.

Things like the internet, Gamingforce in particular, and the gym keep things tolerable for me.

I have several goals in the future that I'm working to accomplish. My family is also a very important force at the moment, and there are a few things that I hope to do for them once I'm established.

I also enjoy each day in general. There are many places I still want to see, and I never lose interest in the opportunity to learn something new.

I live pretty much to see what will happen next. Life is like a video game and I want to get to the next level. Who wants to end the game on the second level? I want to drive a flying car like in the Jetsons.

...

well, there is my wife, my son and my family, too... haha if my wife reads this, it just might be Game Over for me.

I wake up and I have two basic choices: "I'll make this day great as best as I can" or "Fuck this. Shitty day, shitty mood, why bother with fuckwits around me?"

And I choose the former and find things to learn, to appreciate, to do. Just focusing on the positives a day at a time.

The possibility of beauty and positivity.

Music.

It's the only thing I've got left.